New beginnings: Wild's home-opener thriller, Wolves' season-opening preview

October 20, 2021 at 1:43PM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Introduction: Host Michael Rand is *usually* never one to give up on a game, but he did it on Tuesday night and regretted it. When the Wild gave up what looked like an empty-net goal with a little over a minute left in its home opener Tuesday vs. Winnipeg, Rand started channel surfing. It wasn't until more than an hour later, as he was scrolling social media, that he found out what happened: the goal was disallowed, the Wild tied it and then won in overtime on a pair of Joel Eriksson Ek goals. The Wild is undefeated and Rand is utterly defeated.

5:00: Wolves executive vice president Sachin Gupta joins the show to help preview the Timberwolves season as they begin play Wednesday night at Target Center against the Rockets. After the drama of the last month when Gersson Rosas was fired, can the Wolves stay drama-free and have a good direction on the court? And does Gupta, who helped invent ESPN's popular Trade Machine, still hop on it for a spin?

16:00: Continuing the Wolves theme, beat writer Chris Hine joins for a look at this year's roster and whether second-year coach Chris Finch can help a defense that has struggled for years become at least league average. Plus a Ben Simmons discussion as that situation continues to get ugly.

34:00: Bring on the robot umps.

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Questions? Comments? Long-winded diatribes about nothing in particular? E-mail me at michael.rand@startribune.com. Follow me on Twitter @RandBall and Star Tribune sports @StribSports

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